“Meow, ”
“Meow meow, ”
All kinds of cat meows washed into Cen Nian’s ears. He lazily fluttered his eyelids open, revealing large, azure-blue eyes that were as clear as the summer sky.
What met his gaze was a squeaky-clean glass window. This glass display case was his current living quarters.
Three days ago, he had been sitting at his desk burning the midnight oil for over a month straight to study for the college entrance exam. While others were merely talking about grinding themselves to death, he had genuinely managed to grind himself out of existence.
Cen Nian: I am just that much of a man of my word.
When he opened his eyes again, he was here, in a pet shop that sold cats. Opposite him sat another row of glass cases housing kittens of various breeds. They spent their whole day meowing away; every single one of them was an absolute chatterbox. Their conversations were extremely simple: So sleepy, so sleepy… So hungry, so hungry… Grooming time, grooming time… Time to poop, time to poop… Cover the poop, cover the poop…
However, don’t be fooled by their routine behavior; the moment a customer walked in, everything changed completely.
With a chime of “Welcome!”, two young women stepped inside. Enchanted by the kittens, their faces melted into affectionate “auntie” smiles as they looked at one cat after another.
Cen Nian rolled his eyes and observed the scene. While a female owner might be more considerate and attentive toward a kitten, he was, after all, a male high school student. Moreover, these two looked like college students who were probably still living in dorms; if he were bought by them, his immediate living conditions likely wouldn’t be very good.
He quickly made a judgment call. Wiggling his short little legs and shaking his rump, he retreated all the way into the corner of the glass box, using a paw to hide half his face.
Cen Nian had made up his mind: in this life, he was going to be a cat that enjoyed the high life. He was going to live like an absolute monarch and would never let himself suffer hardship. Therefore, he had to find himself a wealthy owner.
Behind those innocent blue eyes, he watched with a spectator’s mindset as the other kittens began striking coquettish poses. The British Shorthair Blue Cat across from him quickly used its plump physique to catch the girls’ attention, letting out a voice so cloyingly sweet it could make anyone cringe.
Cen Nian: Looks like that girl is about to fall for it. If only she knew that in private, this Blue Cat drinks and smokes like a chimney.
Most kittens opted for a docile strategy, using their innocent, big eyes to make the customers soft-hearted. There were also those taking unconventional approaches; for instance, a tabby orange cat was currently trying to draw attention through sheer hyperactivity.
Cen Nian: Impressive. It’s even pulling off backflips.
Rolling his eyes, he couldn’t bear to watch any longer and completely covered his face with his chubby cat paw. A Sphynx hairless cat was currently lying on its side in an outrageously seductive pose, its entire body practically screaming seven words: Big boy, come play with me,
Cen Nian: Honestly, zero feline dignity.
The noisy outside world had nothing to do with him. Just as he was getting ready to take a nice big nap, a crisp female voice spoke from very close by: “This Ragdoll is sleeping so adorably.”
Cen Nian sensed an immediate crisis: No! I am not adorable!
He suddenly twitched as if having a seizure, scolding the girl into taking two steps back. She looked at him again with concern, but seeing that he was still sleeping, she didn’t call the store owner over to check on him. She did, however, give up on this cat that appeared to be ill.
In the end, that Blue Cat was purchased.
Having diffused the crisis, Cen Nian removed his tender pink paws from his head. He had already had quite enough of this tiny glass box; when on earth would a savior show up to buy him out?
“Welcome!”
Cen Nian looked over without much hope, but his large blue eyes instantly began to sparkle with bling-bling light.
The man who entered through the door was wearing a formal suit underneath, layered with a long black overcoat. The complex ensemble didn’t make him look bulky at all; instead, he filled out the high-quality attire like a perfect clothes hanger. He looked like a mysterious, noble gentleman stepping out of an ancient forest, surrounded by a cool, distant aura. Even the kittens, who usually pulled out all the stops the moment anyone walked in, grew exceptionally quiet and behaved themselves.
Cen Nian’s gaze locked onto the man’s wristwatch. He didn’t recognize the brand, but it looked incredibly expensive. Judging by his appearance, the man was around twenty-seven or twenty-eight, a fully grown male with a substantial amount of capital.
Perfect.
Cen Nian launched his offensive immediately. Taking small strides with his short legs, he trotted up to the glass and pressed his tiny head against it: “Meow.”
It was a voice so sweet and clingy it could make one’s scalp go numb.
As the only creature in the shop making noise, he successfully drew the man’s gaze over. Within deep-set eye sockets were a pair of pitch-black eyes, resembling quiet, solitary stars that stood out with their own light without needing to compete.
Cen Nian’s breath left a patch of white condensation on the glass, blurring his pressed-up pink nose and tiny mouth as he let out several more meows.
Gradually, the other kittens began to chime in as well.
The store owner stepped forward to greet the man and asked what he was looking for. Although it was a pet shop, besides selling pets, they also offered services like pet grooming and health checkups.
Yu Shen: “I want to buy a cat.”
Hearing that the man was genuinely here to buy a cat, Cen Nian moved away from the fogged-up patch on the glass. He needed to let the man see his beauty. As a Ragdoll, Cen Nian was extremely confident in his looks.
Store Owner: “Have you done any research before coming here? What type do you prefer? Some cats are quite docile, while others are more energetic…”
The store owner babbled on and on.
Yu Shen was listening attentively until a faint scratch-scratch sound reached his ears. Embedded within the noisy chorus of cat meows, it was subtle, yet it caught his attention. His dark pupils slowly turned toward the source of the sound. Inside the glass box was the very first kitten that had meowed at him earlier.
It was currently working hard to scratch at the glass, its pink toe beans pressed flat against the surface like delicate pastries. It was scratching with great enthusiasm, wiggling its round little head and tiny tail back and forth.
Its bright azure-blue eyes peeked out from behind its paws and met his gaze. Seeing this, the little kitten stopped scratching and let out another: “Meow.”
A milky, tender little voice.
Immediately afterward, it flopped right over, turning over to expose its tiny belly as it lay on its back. Then it rolled; its body flipped over, but its head stayed behind, almost wringing its silly neck in the process.
Cen Nian stared tensely at the man. Having deployed every trick in his repertoire, he stopped making a fuss and looked up at the man with eager eyes.
Yu Shen: “That one.”
He spoke casually, catching the store owner off guard. The owner turned to look in the direction Yu Shen was facing. Over there sat an imposing, majestic Maine Coon, as well as a tiny Ragdoll sprawled flat on the floor like a puddle. Given this man’s temperament, the owner assumed it had to be…
He walked up to the Maine Coon: “This one?”
Beside it, the little Ragdoll slumped like a bathmat scrambled up in a flash, letting out a fierce: “Meow meow meow!” (He clearly chose me! You’re cutting off my wealth and ruining my feline life!)
Just as he was meowing with all his might, he felt the inside of the cage suddenly go dark.
The puffed-up kitten’s cries whimpered to a halt, and he timidly raised his head to look outside. The man was tall; standing so close to the cabinet, Cen Nian couldn’t see his face at all and could only see his neatly tailored suit. It was immaculate; beneath the coat was a small vest, and Cen Nian felt the dark green buttons on the vest looked as if they were made of gemstones. His shirt was crisp and smooth, faintly revealing the outline of the chest muscles underneath, with every button fastened straight up to the very top and constrained by a tie.
It was as if he were trying to use this refined attire to restrain the wild nature inherent to his body.
Yu Shen: “This one.”
Cen Nian couldn’t hold his head up any longer and flopped straight backward, the corners of his cute three-lobed mouth curving up smugly. Sure enough, his cuteness was invincible.
The locked cage door was finally opened, though Cen Nian, still immersed in his victory, didn’t notice.
A hand reached inside. Although the hand was quite large, because the fingers were long and slender with smooth joints, it didn’t look clumsy at all. The subtle blue veins on the back of the hand added a sense of strength unique to an adult male.
Cen Nian’s tiny foot was touched first, causing him to twitch. Only then did he snap back to reality. Before he could lift his heavy head, that hand had already slipped underneath him. The palm supported his bottom while the fingers pinched the back of his neck, effortlessly lifting him out with a single hand.
With the help of that hand, Cen Nian’s head was finally raised, and at an extremely close distance, he saw the man’s face. Looking strictly at his features, he had a ruggedness that carried a sense of sharpness. However, his mature temperament suppressed that sharpness, leaving behind only an air of aloofness.
What Cen Nian cared about even more, though, was that having his bottom supported by a man felt exceedingly strange. Couldn’t someone put some clothes on this little kitten?
I’m a male high school student, you know!
Even though I was just about to cease being one.
For his first confrontation with his food provider, Cen Nian was determined to be the party in control. Thus, without the slightest hesitation, he used his big head to nuzzle against the man.
Acting cute would never go wrong.
As it turned out, he underestimated the weight of his own head. His tiny body pitched forward, and his three-lobed mouth bumped directly into the man’s lips.
The kitten was so shocked its fur puffed out completely, and its little tail stood straight up like a flagpole.
He hadn’t even given away his first kiss in his human life, and now his cat life’s first kiss was gone just like that? Yet whether in human life or cat life, he had just ended up kissing a man!
Embarrassed, Cen Nian wanted to pull back, but this was asking far too much of his short, stubby body. Not only did he fail to get up, but he ended up rubbing against the man’s lips a few more times.
Accidentally catching a glimpse of the man, Cen Nian saw his thick eyebrows furrow slightly. Panic seized Cen Nian’s heart, and he froze, not daring to move. Oh no, could he be disgusted by this little kitten?
Is he going to reject me now?
Cen Nian couldn’t care less about the kiss anymore. He let out a pitiful, whining sound as the man pulled his head away. Seeing those dark eyes staring down at him, it genuinely looked as though he were considering abandoning the purchase.
Cen Nian definitely didn’t want to miss out on a well-off benefactor who didn’t even like kissing cats. How wonderful was that? It saved him the risk of being excessively smothered and snuggled in the future.
As the saying goes, a cat’s destiny is written in the stars; ninety percent depends on acting cute.
Thus, Cen Nian raised his paws. Watch me perform a toe-bean flower bloom for you! His tiny claws snapped open in an instant, looking so adorable that even the store owner wanted to grab them and take a bite.
Cen Nian: Take that, as if I can’t captivate you.
Store Owner: “He really likes you! When other customers came in earlier, he didn’t even make a sound, but the moment he saw you, he started meowing and acting cute.”
Yu Shen’s eyes darkened slightly. He likes me?
Glancing at the little paws that were still trying their hardest to bloom into flowers for him, he said, “Pack him up.”
Having achieved his goal, Cen Nian pulled back his paws, which were on the verge of cramping from blooming so hard.
Comfortable, lazy, ideal cat life, here I come!